Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Palisade is more than the epicenter of Colorado's Wine Country. There's a variety of fruit wines, meads, handcrafted beers and hard spirits produced by our intrepid local artisans. Taking advantage of the area's abundant agriculture, these distillers add many local flavors beyond our excellent vino.

"I am proud to have in my possession bottle # 25 of the first ever batch of peach brandy from Peach Street Distillers and I must say I feel privileged. I had enjoyed their immature peach brandy a little over a year ago and was excited to find out that they were bringing it out of the oak barrels as a mature brandy.You may be thinking about all the times that I have said that I am a purest and do not like fruit in my beer or liquor, but this is different.This is not simply some cheap peach flavor that was added to a cheap brandy or liquor.This brandy began its life from handpicked, hand pitted peaches from the world famous peach orchards in Palisade, Colorado.They fermented the peaches into brandy, and then placed it into barrels to age and gain character."

"This brandy has a rich amber color.The thick body of the brandy is evident when you swirl it around the snifter with droplets of brandy gathering on the side of the snifter then falling back into the glass.The initial aroma of the brandy is a light vanilla and peach scent.When you put your nose further into the glass you can smell the distinct peach aroma with the oak finish provided by the aging barrel.There is a very smooth feel when the peach brandy enters the mouth.The peach flavor comes on slowly at first, and then remains in the back of your mouth after you swallow.Peaches are a rich, flavorful fruit and this peach brandy captures this flavor perfectly.It is obvious they took great care selecting the fruit that was used to create this superb product."

"Jackelope Gin was the next gin on our tasting list. This is a small batch gin produced by Peach Street Distillersin Palisade, CO. Being a sucker for small batch, artisinal spirits I knew this bottle had to come home with me the minute I saw it. The gents at Peach Street give a superb telling of exactly why gin is the best bait for the Jackelope and sadly I can’t say we had any luck in catching any. I think this stems more from my location in a small city though than our choice of bait. As any amateur cryptozoologist knows Jackelopes prefer the sparsely populated high mountain deserts and sand stone mesas. What we did find is a great gin that is well worth seeking out."

"Jackelope has a nice fruity nose and the taste of sweet fruits comes through in the flavor as well. We all concurred that this gin is much smoother than our control (Bombay Sapphire) and has little burn which is also nice. Peach Street uses a blend of local junipers which I think adds to the uniqueness and great taste of this gin. Beyond that the “secret” ingredients are the standard gin fare: Coriander, Angelica, Oris root, Licorice, Lemon peel/zest, Lime peel/zest, Cassia bark. In this gin they are very nicely balanced and make for a complex but tasty gin. None of the botanicals are screaming at you but they are all there. I think this gin would be excellent in a Martini, but maybe go a little light on the vermouth, say 5:1, so as not to overwhelm the subtle flavors."

Wine Country Inn's Mt Lincoln Vineyards

The grapes come right up to our front door.

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